Kazuo Taoka
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Kazuo Taoka
was one of the most prominent yakuza godfathers.History and Culture of the Japanese Yakuza
Known as the "Godfather of Godfathers" and "The Japanese Godfather", Taoka was third ''kumicho'' of the , 's largest yakuza organization, from 1946 to 1981.


Early life

Taoka, an , grew up as a young street fighter in

Kōji Tsuruta
, better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor and singer. He appeared in almost 260 feature films and had a unique style of singing. His daughter, Sayaka Tsuruta, is an actress. Career Born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Tsuruta was raised in Osaka by his grandmother, following his parents' divorce. A delinquent in high school, he finished second from the bottom of his class. Tsuruta was studying at Kansai University when he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in 1944. After the war he joined Hirokichi Takada's theater troupe and made his film debut at Shochiku in 1948 with '' Yūkyō no mure'', gaining a female following for playing handsome leads. He left Shochiku in 1952 to start his own production company. Prior, a romance with actress Keiko Kishi made headlines and Shochiku forced the two to end the relationship. He was attacked by the Yakuza in 1953. He notably played Sasaki Kojirō in Toho's ''Samurai Trilogy'' (1954–1956), opposite Toshirō Mifun ...
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Sakazuki
A consists of the flask and cups used to serve ''sake''. ''Sake'' sets are commonly ceramic, but may be wood, lacquered wood, glass or plastic. The flask and cups may be sold individually or as a set. Server The server of a ''sake'' set is a flask called a ''tokkuri'' (). A ''tokkuri'' is generally bulbous with a narrow neck, but may have a variety of other shapes, including that of a spouted serving bowl (''katakuchi''). Traditionally, heated ''sake'' is often warmed by placing the ''sake''-filled ''tokkuri'' in a pan of hot water, and thus the narrowed neck would prevent the heat from escaping. In more authentic places such as ''oden'' bars and ''ryōtei'' in Japan, sake is sometimes warmed and served in metal containers known as ''chirori'' () or ''tanpo'' (). Recently, glass ''chirori'' are also used to chill sake. Drinking cups Formerly, sake was sold by volume in a wooden box measuring cup, known as a '' masu'', Yahoo! Japan Dictionary/, accessdate=2010-12-22. which ...
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1981 Deaths
Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán Department, Morazán and Chalatenango Department, Chalatenango departments. * January 15 – Pope John Paul II receives a delegation led by Polish Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa at the Vatican City, Vatican. * January 20 – Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, minutes after Ronald Reagan is First inauguration of Ronald Reagan, sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, ending the Iran hostage crisis. * January 21 – The first DMC DeLorean, DeLorean automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. * January 24 – An 1981 Dawu ea ...
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1913 Births
Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the war. * January 13 – Edward Carson founds the (first) Ulster Volunteer Force, by unifying several existing loyalist militias to resist home rule for Ireland. * January 23 – 1913 Ottoman coup d'état: Ismail Enver comes to power. * January – Stalin (whose first article using this name is published this month) travels to Vienna to carry out research. Until he leaves on February 16 the city is home simultaneously to him, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito alongside Berg, Freud and Jung and Ludwig and Paul Wittgenstein. February * February 1 – New York City's Grand Central Terminal, having been rebuilt, reopens as the world's largest railroad station. * February 3 – The 16th Amendment to the United S ...
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Yakuza Members
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yakuza'' is gangster, meaning an individual involved in a Mafia-like criminal organization. The ''yakuza'' are known for their strict codes of conduct, their organized fiefdom nature and several unconventional ritual practices such as ''yubitsume'' or amputation of the left little finger. Members are often portrayed as males, wearing "sharp suits" with heavily tattooed bodies and slicked hair. This group is still regarded as being among "the most sophisticated and wealthiest criminal organizations". At their height, the ''yakuza'' maintained a large presence in the Japanese media and operated internationally. At their peak in the early 1960s, police estimated that the ''yakuza'' had a membership of more than 200,000."Police of Japan 2 ...
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TruTV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focused on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal dramas, and coverage of prominent criminal cases. The channel was initially a joint venture between Time Warner, American Lawyer Media, Cablevision, and NBC, with Liberty Media later joining the venture as well. By 2005, Liberty Media and Time Warner had purchased ALM, Cablevision and NBC's stakes in Court TV. Time Warner subsequently bought out Liberty's share in 2006 for $735 million, and brought the channel under its Turner Broadcasting subsidiary. In 2008, the channel relaunched as TruTV, changing its focus to action-oriented docusoaps and "caught on camera" programs, which it marketed as "actuality" television. The channel continued to carry legal coverage dur ...
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Gas Poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large exposures can result in loss of consciousness, arrhythmias, seizures, or death. The classically described "cherry red skin" rarely occurs. Long-term complications may include chronic fatigue, trouble with memory, and movement problems. CO is a colorless and odorless gas which is initially non-irritating. It is produced during incomplete burning of organic matter. This can occur from motor vehicles, heaters, or cooking equipment that run on carbon-based fuels. Carbon monoxide primarily causes adverse effects by combining with hemoglobin to form carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO) preventing the blood from carrying oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide as carbaminohemoglobin. Additionally, many other hemoproteins such as myoglobin, Cytochrome P450, and mito ...
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New-age Music
New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy (emotion), ecstasy rather than trance, or to create a peaceful atmosphere in homes or other environments. It is sometimes associated with environmentalism and New Age, New Age spirituality; however, most of its artists have nothing to do with "New age spirituality", and some even reject the term. New-age music includes both Acoustic music, acoustic forms, featuring instruments such as flutes, piano, acoustic guitar and a wide variety of folk instrument, non-Western acoustic instruments, and electronic music, electronic forms, frequently relying on sustained synth pads or long Music sequencer, sequencer-based runs. Vocal arrangements were initially rare in the genre, but as it has evolved, vocals have become more common, especially tho ...
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Masahisa Takenaka
was the 4th ''kumicho'' of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza gang. He took the role of kumicho (supreme Godfather) in 1984, but was assassinated at a girlfriend's home in Osaka early the next year by a rival faction, the Ichiwa-kai The Ichiwa-kai (一和会) was a yakuza gang based in Osaka, Japan. It was formed on June 13, 1984 when Hiroshi Yamamoto, a top lieutenant in the Yamaguchi-gumi, broke from that gang to form his own organization with over 10,000 members. The s .... The killing sparked a massive yakuza war, the Yama-Ichi War, in which more than 20 people died. Yamaguchi-gumi Yakuza members Japanese crime bosses 1933 births 1985 deaths People from Himeji, Hyōgo Murdered gangsters Deaths by firearm in Japan {{Japan-crime-stub ...
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Myocardial Infarction
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck or jaw. Often it occurs in the center or left side of the chest and lasts for more than a few minutes. The discomfort may occasionally feel like heartburn. Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, nausea, feeling faint, a cold sweat or feeling tired. About 30% of people have atypical symptoms. Women more often present without chest pain and instead have neck pain, arm pain or feel tired. Among those over 75 years old, about 5% have had an MI with little or no history of symptoms. An MI may cause heart failure, an irregular heartbeat, cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest. Most MIs occur due to coronary artery disease. Risk factors include high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, ...
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Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the city had a population of 1.46 million. The city is the cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. Kyoto is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan, having been chosen in 794 as the new seat of Japan's imperial court by Emperor Kanmu. The original city, named Heian-kyō, was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capital of Chang'an/Luoyang. The emperors of Japan ruled from Kyoto in the following eleven centuries until 1869. It was the scene of several key events of the Muromachi period, Sengoku period, and the Boshin War, such as the Ōnin War, the Ho ...
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